The Importance of Trade Spend

First, you need to budget for trade spend. Expect to invest fifteen to twenty-five percent of your revenue, depending on your category and stage of growth.

For emerging brands, the best approach is to work directly with your target retailers. Leverage their reach to get in front of their customers. If you’ve targeted well, their customers are your customers.

Most retailers offer a menu of marketing programs to boost exposure and drive velocity. That is a huge win when you do not have a large marketing budget.

But not all programs are created equal. Some are genuinely valuable. Others are designed more to drive retailer margin than to grow your sales.

Prioritize What Drives Baskets

Focus your dollars on tactics that get your product into shopping baskets. Below are several retail-focused strategies that consistently deliver strong return on investment:

Retail-Focused Tactics That Work

Sale Tags and Temporary Price Reductions: Still the best ROI. Build in price reduction promotions that fit your retailer’s rhythm.

Retailer Marketing Campaigns: Print or digital campaigns are usually expensive, but they pay back when tied to off-shelf placement.

Instacart: The algorithm is effective, and the platform often pays its way in visibility and trial.

Digital Coupons: Direct, trackable, and great for driving trial.

Store Staff Education: In stores that still have employees on the floor, education often beats influencer marketing. Grassroots training builds advocacy better than a paid post ever will.

Demos: These are category-specific. For lower-priced items, skip them and invest in a temporary price reduction unless it is an addictive snack item. For premium items, demos can deliver strong ROI, but only with the right team. With the wrong team, it is just burning cash.

Trade Spend Truths

Do not spread your spend evenly. Focus on retailers where your customer shops, and within those, where you get the best ROI.

Distributor marketing programs are often profit drivers for the distributor, not for you. If they are mandatory, negotiate down or choose the lowest tier. Treat them as a cost of doing business, not a growth driver.

Merchandising support can be category-dependent and hard to scale early on. Unless you have a high-velocity account, monthly retainers are tough to justify. A better play is to pulse a merchandising team during launches or stay hyper-focused geographically and lean on sweat equity or trusted brand ambassadors.

The Takeaway

Trade spend is how you get your product moving at the store level. Spend it wisely and you will grow your sales. The right mix of programs, promotions, and partnerships can accelerate your success while protecting your cash flow.